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Abstract
A survey of 2,285 U.S. farmer, rancher, and fishery cooperatives ending their business year during calendar year 2011 showed a record business volume, net income, and total assets. Gross business volume was $213.5 billion while net business volume was $183.6 billion, and net income totaled slightly more than $5 billion. These cooperatives had more than $78 billion in assets, $50 billion of liabilities, and $28 billion in equity. Cooperatives were a major employer in rural areas, with 131,000 full-time workers and 53,000 part-time or seasonal employees. Business volume by commodity is reported for all cooperatives. Number of cooperatives, cooperative memberships, and number of employees are classified according to whether the business is a marketing, supply or service cooperative. Trends in cooperative numbers, memberships, employees, business size, sales volume, net income, assets, liabilities, and net worth are reported.